Disclosed herein is a vehicle seat, and particularly, a vehicle seat that gives an excellent sitting feeling to an occupant while following the body shape of the occupant.
Generally, in a vehicle seat, a seat cushion that supports buttocks and thighs of an occupant is formed in a manner such that a cushion pad is placed on a cushion frame and is covered by an outermost cover. Then, in such a seat cushion, various techniques have been proposed in order to give a satisfactory feeling to the occupant.
As a technique of obtaining a satisfactory feeling in the seat cushion, for example, a technique of reducing a vibration transmitted from a vehicle body is known (for example, see Japanese Patent Document No. 9-117346 A (“the '346 Document”)).
A seat cushion disclosed in the '346 Document includes a substantially rectangular plate-shaped pan frame which serves as a framework and a plurality of elastic springs which connect the rear portion of the pan frame in the right and left direction.
The front portion of the pan frame is formed in a flat plate shape at a position where the thighs of the occupant sitting on the seat are supported, and the rear portion thereof is provided with a concave portion which is recessed downward at a position where the buttocks of the occupant are supported. The elastic springs are disposed above the concave portion supporting the buttocks of the occupant, and are disposed at the height of the horizontal plane substantially the same as the front portion of the pan frame.
Accordingly, the seat cushion may obtain a satisfactory cushioning performance by the elastic deformation of the elastic spring and the cushion pad, and may reduce a vibration transmitted from the vehicle body generated when the vehicle travels.
However, in the seat cushion of the '346 Document, the front portion of the pan frame and the elastic spring are located at the height of the same horizontal plane. For this reason, when the occupant sits on the seat, the elastic spring sinks down more largely than the front portion of the plate-shaped pan frame, and hence there is a concern that the occupant sitting on the seat may feel uncomfortable. For that reason, there has been a desire for a seat cushion that further improves a sitting feeling while keeping a high followability of the elastic spring with respect to the occupant sitting on the seat.
At the same time, there has been a desire for a vehicle seat that further decreases the weight and the size thereof in consideration of the arrangement of the pan frame and the elastic spring.